Chicago, Ill.- June 9- Lots of strikes and base hits was the recipe for a walk off hit to end the battle at Riverside Park.

The MCL Minutemen (3-5) and the Crestwood Panthers (5-5) fought in another nail biter this evening in the 4-3 loss.The Panthers got on the board first with a homerun at the first at bat. The Minutemen struck back later in a high intensity fourth inning. 

Nick Semancik (Franklin/ Whiting, Ind.) started out the inning with a double into left field. Brennan Brogni came in for Semancik as a pinch runner. Ryan Nelson (Eastern Kentucky/ Aurora, Ill.) followed that hit up with a double of his own. Jorge Santos (South Suburban/ Homewood,Ill.) then popped one into center to load the bases. Mike Koszewski (Cincinnati/ Oak Brook, Ill.) later on got hit by the pitch to keep the bases loaded, but Brogni would come in and score to tie the game. Josh Gaines (Homewood, Ill.)would hit a grounder to second, and after the error by the second baseman, Nelson and Santos heading for home to score two more runs. 

The Minutemen would go up 3-1, only to give up another two runs in the bottom of the inning to tie the game at three a piece.

Manager Deandre Gilmore believes that it was a solid performance, but there are still things to work on as the season progresses.

“It was a pretty good game, besides leaving guys on base. We’ve been leaving double digit guys on base the past few games. That hurts, but all in all, great pitching and that was a good game,” Gilmore said.

Gabe Cortez (Prairie State/ Tinley Park, Ill.) started at the mound tonight. He threw for four strikeouts, and only allowed two runs in the four innings that he pitched. Cortez and the rest of the bullpen kept it close, but a walk off base hit sealed the deal in tonight’s loss. 

Their next game is tomorrow against the Chicago American Giants for the fourth time this season. The team will look to fix the way they bat tomorrow as they travel to Gouwens Park at 7:05 pm.

“It’s all about the approach. You need to go up there and know what you need to do to get the job done,” Gilmore said.

Follow @MclMinutemen on Twitter to keep up with all the latest Minutemen news and updates, and follow @MCLMinutemen on Facebook to catch the live streams of every game.